But not everyone sees the southward flow of pines as a welcome present.

Some Mexican farmers and politicians complain they are fighting unfair competition from the wealthy subsidized US plantations.

The issue even reached the Mexican Senate, which on Dec. 16 sent an
official request to the Forest Department asking why more support has
not been given to Mexican Christmas-tree growers.

The request underlined how more support for Christmas tree farms in Mexico could uplift the local economy.

“These type of plantations are a very important source of rural
employment,” the request said, according to Mexico’s government news
agency Notimex. “They generate up to 500,000 pesos ($36,000) per hectare
(2.47 acres).”

Free trade over the Rio Grande has shot up steadily since the North
American Free Trade Agreement was signed in 1994 and tariffs on most
products were gradually phased out.

In 1993, goods worth a total of $80 billion were traded between Mexico
and the United States. In 2010, this had shot up to $392 billion worth
of goods.

Overall, the United States actually imports more from Mexico than it
exports, shipping $163 billion worth of products south, while $229
billion came north last year.

Many car-manufacturing jobs shifted from Detroit to Mexican cities such as Puebla, to the chagrin of American car workers.

Mexican avocadoes are often bigger and juicier than U.S.-grown avocadoes
and are the most popular choice in much of the United States.

But when it comes to festive forestry, the northern countries are clearly winning the battle.

Cristian Fernandez, a Christmas-tree producer with a farm in Mexico
State, says American plantations are more competitive because they have
been producing for a much longer time.

“A few decades ago, only a few Mexicans ever used Christmas trees. But
the demand has rocketed,” Fernandez said. “We are expanding production
but we can’t actually meet the demand. We are also looking at different
species that can compete with the imports.”

Mexican Christmas-tree producers have traditionally grown species of
pines and firs that can survive the high altitude and conditions of
Mexico’s central mountains.

While sprouting rich, dark-green leaves, the Mexican trees generally grow shorter than U.S. species, such as the Douglas Fir.

The mighty Douglas Firs are so popular in Mexico that they alone accounted for 477,000 of the imported trees this season.

Mexico’s Christmas-tree politics are not only limited to the issue of exports.

Environmentalists complain that the surging demand has also led to
illegal loggers chopping trees down from national parks to sell in
market places.

Such logging has been particularly detrimental to parks in the green state of Puebla, to the west of Mexico City.

Elias Abaid, representative for the Green Party in Puebla state
legislature, urged shoppers to ask their supplier for a certificate to
make sure the tree comes from a licensed farm.

“We are inviting people to make this effort when acquiring trees …
because this guarantees conservation and production of these species,”
Abaid said.

Over in a Wal-Mart outlet — a store that has spread across Mexico — a
family marched past both the Mexican and U.S. trees to some plastic
Christmas trees, made in China.

The mother, Alberta Aguilera, a 34-year-old architect, said she hadn’t
thought about the Christmas-tree politics, but was buying a plastic tree
because it is easier, cheaper and cleaner.

“I like real plants and have lots in my house,” Aguilera said. “But why
do I want a tree that is going to be dead within a month?”

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